Bye, Bye Miss American Pie

Turn on your light
And stay with me awhile
And ease your worried mind
--Rock Steady, Bad Company
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Guitar Player's December issue leads with "Rock Hard! Spend Less -- 34 electrics under $499". These are the guitars musicians will be using, and the market is dominated by foreign manufacturers (China: 17; Indonesia: 12; Canada: 2; South Korea: 2; Mexico: 1.)

The market for acoustic guitars is similar -- The most famous acoustic is the Martin guitar of Pennsylvania, which now features made in Mexico versions. The state of guitar manufacturing is a microcosm of manufacturing across the board. The Chinese are dominating the multi-billion dollar industry of mass guitar manufacturing that used to be singularly American.

The electric guitar is an American invention and is like pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving, but it is now outsourced. Our money and jobs flow overseas as gratingly as notes from a cheap guitar.